how to perfect your personal ad

A personal introduction is basically a brief introduction of yourself and your background. Having a presentation ready is a great confidence booster for graduate interviews (whether in person, over the phone, or via video), networking events, and career fairs. The process of creating one also helps you focus on what employers want and helps you specifically demonstrate how you meet their requirements.

60 seconds to impact

The typical example is an elevator pitch: imagine getting into an elevator and bumping into an influential person who can dramatically change your destiny. How would you sell to them in the 60 seconds it takes the elevator to reach the ground floor and make sure they want to hear more?

Actually, this kind of exercise might come up in an assessment centre, but we’re talking about the basics here: being ready when the interviewer starts the procedure by asking you to “tell them a bit about yourself”.

How to sum ourselves up

Introducing yourself may sound simple, but it’s easy to get confused when you’re under pressure. Take some time to prepare your presentation in advance.

First: “tell us about yourself” doesn’t mean you have to share every detail of your life from your earliest childhood memory to your recent obsession with the new series of

Game of Thrones

. This question is usually meant to ease you into the interview and get a brief overview of yours

academic and work training

and

why you want to work for them

.

Think about your three or five best experiences, at work, at university or in your personal life. Consider the themes, personality traits, and skills that emerge through these experiences that are most important to convey to recruiters. Choose one or two experiences and topics that meet the selection criteria for the job and focus on them throughout.

As a general rule, devote 75% of the presentation to briefly review your academic and work history, making sure to highlight those best experiences, topics, and skills. Finish your introduction by explaining why you want to work for the employer and give some career goals you could achieve through the position.

Practice your pitch

Find a willing volunteer and practice introducing yourself to them. It often helps to get a second opinion on how you present yourself as a friend, you’ll be able to point out nervous habits, odd phrases or accomplishments you’ve missed.

Find a balance between being well trained and sounding natural. You don’t want to recite it like a parrot, but being flexible means you can do it at will if the occasion calls for it.

Top Presentation Tips:

• Keep it short and quick.
  

• Keep it natural:
  
  breathe, smile and be yourself.

• Avoid tricks:
  
  your presentation should reflect your professionalism.

• Rehearse:
  
  practice makes perfect.

• Maintain eye contact:
  
  we’re not talking about a scary look here, but remember that it’s a conversation starter and eye contact engages the other person. If you’re on a video platform, make sure you know where the webcam is and that you’re talking into it!

• Adapt it for different audiences and occasions:
  
  tailor it for maximum impact.